Beet-harvester



A; BOZEK.

BEET HARVESTER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 27. l9i9.

Patented May 10,1921.

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A. BOZEK.

BEET HAEVESTER.

APPLICATION HLEE; FEB. 27, m9.

Patented Maylfl, 1921.

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UNITED? STATES ALBERT IBOZEK, or GEBO, WYOMING.

' IBEET-HARVESTEB.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Bitty if), T921.

Application filed February 27, 1919.. Serial no. evatsei To all whom it may 0071 061% Be it known that 1,,ALBERT BoznK, a citizen of the United States, residin at Gebo, in the county of Hot Springs, btate of VVvoming, have invented a newand useful BeetHarve ster; and I do hereby declare the following to be. a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsv to make and use the same.

The present invention relates toa beet;

harvester, and. has for its object to provide a device 'of this character which embodies novel features ofconstruction whereby the tops are removed from'the beets.

Further objects of the inventlon are to provide a novel cutter for severing the tops from the beets in a uniform manner, the cutter operating in substantially the same wayupon both hlgh and low beets.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements 9f the parts aswill more fully appear'as the description proc'eeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

'For a full understanding of the invention,

reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in

which Figure 1 is atop plan view of a beet harvester constructed .in accordanceywith the invention, a portion of the main frame being broken away at one side thereof;

Fi 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the l1ne 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig.3 is a transverse sectional view on.

the line 3--8 of Fig. 2, looking in rection of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the recip rocating cutters. I

Corresponding and like parts are referred to inthe following description and the diindicated in all the Views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring .tothe drawings, which, illustrate one embodiment of theinventiomthe o reference character A designates a main framewhich is substantially rectangular in shape and is supported upon the front wheels '1' and rear wheels 2, the'latter being rigid with an axle 3 which is journaled within the bearings 4. This axle has'a chain and sprocket connection 5 with a transverse angle iron bracket 17. '19 of each bracket is provided with a disk shaft .6 which extends across the top of the mainframe A at anintermedlate polnt 1n the length thereof, said shaft being journaled within the bearings 7 and being provided at its opposite .ends with sprocket wheel 8. A conventional clutch 9 controls the driving of the transverse shaft. oby the chain and sprocket connection 5, said clutch being controlled by a shifting lever 10 'whichis pivoted upon the frame A and connected by a rearwardly, extending link 11 to a hand lever 12 which is located adjacent the seat 13. This lever enables the operator toopen and close the clutch 9' at will, and when the clutch is open the driving connection between the rear wheels and the transverse shaft 6 is broken. I V

The sprocket wheels 8oare arranged? at opposite sides of the main frame A and are connected by chains 14 tosmall sprockets 15 which are rigid with short shafts 16 journaled in angle iron brackets 17 which project downwardly from opposite'sid-es of the main frame. Oneof these brackets 17 is located in advance'of the transverse shaft 6, While the other bracket is located to'the rear thereof, and the innerend ofeach of the short-shafts16 is connected by bevel pinions 18 to a short shaft 19 which is arranged at right angles thereto and Jjournaled inthe "opposite side or flange of the The second shaft 20 which has an' eccentric pivotal connection 21w1th a transversely extend ng pitman 22, said pitmen extendingtransversely in oppositedirections and being connected at their opposite ends to the reciprocating cutters23; I i

The reciprocating cuttersj23 are slidably mounted within suitable openings formed in 25' are arranged upon opposite sides of the mainframe A and one in advance of the other, thereby providing for operating u on two rows of beets at the same time. 1 he upper ends of the guide bars 26'are shown engaged by a set screw 28 to lock the guide bar rigidly in an adjusted position. The lnner faces of the guide bars '26 are formed with longitudinal grooves 29 which termi nate short of the lower ends of the guide bars and receive antl-frictlon' rollers 30 whlch are journaled upon the ends of the frames 25. The cutter carrying frames 25- are thus mounted in such a manner that they can readily be moved upwardlyinto' an inoperative position, or downwardly lnto 7 an operativeposition, as may be desired.

A chain or cable 31 is connected to each of the cutter supporting frames 25, the lower" I v V at an elevation slightly above that of the bottom of the roller, preferably about one end of each of the chains being connected to the middle portion of a skeleton hanger V 32 which is secured to theframe, while the upper end of the chain is connected to the periphery of a groovedroller or pulley 33. The two pulleys 33 are rigid with longitudinally extending shafts 34 which are ofi'set laterally from each other, said shafts being journaled in standards 35, and the adj acent,

I ends of the shafts being connected by the 43 are about an' inch and a half in length; I V

pinions 36 sothat the two shafts are operable in unison with each other. The rear end of" the rear shaft 34 isprovided with a crank l handle 37 and also with a ratchet wheel 38 which is adapted to. be engaged by a pawl 39 to lock the shafts againstbackward rotation when they have been operated to lift the cutter carrying frames 25.. It will thus be obvious that by suitably inanipulat-j ing the crank handle 37, whichis arranged in a position convenient to the seat 13, the

operator can either elevate the cutter carrying frames 25 into an inoperative position, or permit them to drop by gravity. into an operative position. a

The rollers B are comparatively heavy so that they will pack or compress the sur face of, the soil as the machine isadvanced, and for this purpose thefrollers may have I an iron body portion 40 and a periphery or Vertical movement independently of the frames, and in ordinary practicethe slots n The reciprocating. cutters 23 have smooth end. portions 7 23 which slide freely within theopenings inthe guide arms24, and inter? mediate toothed 1 portions '23 whichare sharpened 'toact upon-the beet tops with a saw-like action when the machine is in operat on: The nds ofthe cu er a d ta ablyconnected means of pins 44 to the pitmen 22, and it will be observed thatthe cutters can be readily removed and replaced by fresh cutters which have been sharpened and are. in proper condition to act effectively upon the beet tops. When the cutter carrying frames have been lowered into operative position and the machine is advanced with the clutch 9 closed, thecutters 23 are rapidly reciprocated back and forth while the rollers Btravel over the surface ofthe ground, the weight of therollers causingithe ground tobe slightly packed orcompressed; When operating upon a low beet which has "the top thereof substantiall y flush withthe surface of the ground, the roller will pass over the beet without any'ifippreciable upward movement, and'the beet top will be severed by the cutter 23 which is arranged half inch above the bottom of the roller. 1f the beet top projects slightly above the I surface of the ground,the roller B will rise shaft 42 of the roller. will engage the upper ends of the slots43 and causefthe frame 25 and cutter to be lifted, thereby elevating the cutter so that it will remove the top of the beet. withoutcutting into the beet itself.

' The provision and mounting of the roller B thus enables thecutter to operate uniformly uponall sizesandconditions of beets, re gardless of whether the beets are flush with the surface of the ground or extend upwardly two orthreeinches above the sur faceof the ground, as is notinfrequentlythe case. Deflecting plates 45 are arranged back of the cutters23, being carried bythe frames 25 and inclined outwardly in opposite directions. These deflector plates serve toengagejthe topswhich have been severed by the cutters and to throw the topsgoutwardly in opposite directions awayfrom the frame. r v

'Themachine thus operates simultaneously upon the two rows of beets, the tops of the beets being severed by the cutters and deflected laterally in opposite directions.

Having thus described the invention, What I claim as new and desireto. secure by Letters Patent, is V H 1. A beetv harvester including a main frame, a vertically adjustable cutter frame mounted upon the main frame, a horizontally disposed cylindrical roller journaled upon the cutter frame and mounted to have a limited up and =downmoveme nti independent of the cutter frame, S id roller, being an rangedto travel overthe beets, and support the frame at the proper elevation with reelevation with respect to the beets, a hori zontally disposed reciprocating blade mountthe cutter frame back of the roller, and

means for actuating the cutter as the main frame is advanced. a

2. A beet harvester including a main frame, a series of vertically disposed guide bars upon the main frame, a vertically ad-..

j ustable cutter frame slidably mounted upon the guide bars, means for raising and lowering the cutter frame, a horizontally disposed cylindricalroller journaled upon the cutter frame and arranged to travel over the I beets, and support the frame at the proper ed upon the cutter frame back of the roller,

and means for actuating the cutter upon the forward movement of the main frame.

3. A beet harvester including a main frame, keepers thereon, a series of vertically disposed guidebars adjustably mounted within the keepers, a vertically adjustable with respectto the beets, a horizontally disposed reciprocating blade cutter mounted upon the frame at the back of the roller,

and means for actuating the cutter upon the forward movement of the main frame.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, ALBERT BOZEK.

Witnesses M. E. CoNcnoN,

- GEORGE W. DAILY. 

